1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication systems; and more particularly to high-speed serial bit stream communications.
2. Description of Related Art
The structure and operation of communication systems is generally well known. Communication systems support the transfer of information from one location to another location. Early examples of communication systems included the telegraph and the public switch telephone network (PSTN). When initially constructed, the PSTN was a circuit switched network that supported only analog voice communications. As the PSTN advanced in its structure and operation, it supported digital communications. The Internet is a more recently developed communication system that supports digital communications. As contrasted to the PSTN, the Internet is a packet switch network.
The Internet consists of a plurality of switch hubs and digital communication lines that interconnect the switch hubs. Many of the digital communication lines of the Internet are serviced via fiber optic cables (media). Fiber optic media supports high-speed communications and provides substantial bandwidth, as compared to copper media. At the switch hubs, switching equipment is used to switch data communications between digital communication lines. WANs, Internet service providers (ISPs), and various other networks access the Internet at these switch hubs.
In a particular example of a packet switched network, a switch that services the digital communication requirements of a number of users located within a building in a large city couples via fiber media to switches mounted in other buildings within the city, to switches located in other cities/states/countries, and to switch hubs servicing the Internet. This structure is not unique to the Internet. Portions of the PSTN, wireless cellular network infrastructure, Wide Area Networks (WANs), and other communication systems employ the same or similar structures.
Switches route incoming traffic and outgoing traffic. A typical switch (or switch hub) includes a housing having a plurality of slots that are designed to receive Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) upon which integrated circuits and various media connectors are mounted. The PCBs removably mount within the racks of the housing and typically communicate with one another via a back plane of the housing. Each PCB typically includes at least two media connectors that couple the PCB to a pair of optical cables and/or copper media. The optical and/or copper media serves to couple the PCB to other PCBs of other switches located in the same geographic area or to other PCBs of other switches located at another geographic area.
Typically, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) mount upon the PCBs of the housing and perform switching operations for the data that is received on the coupled media and data that is transmitted on the coupled media. The coupled media typically terminates in a receptacle mounted on the PCB. Transceiving circuitry coupled to the receptacle and mounted upon the PCB performs signal conversion operations from the signal format of the coupled media and a bit stream format of the ASIC. In most installations, the media, e.g., optical media, operates in a simplex fashion. In such case, one optical media will carries incoming data (RX data) to the PCB while another optical media carries outgoing data (TX data) from the PCB. Thus, the transceiving circuitry typically includes incoming circuitry and outgoing circuitry, each of which couples to a media connector on a first side and communicatively couples to the ASIC on a second side. The ASIC may also couple to a back plane interface that allows the ASIC to communicate with other ASICs located in the enclosure via a back plane connection. The ASIC is designed and implemented to provide desired switching operations. The operation of such enclosures and the PCBs mounted therein is generally known.
The conversion of information on the optical media or copper media to a signal that may be received by the ASIC and vice versa requires satisfaction of a number of requirements. First, the coupled physical media has particular RX signal requirements and TX signal requirements. These requirements must be met at the boundary of the connector to the physical media. Further, the ASIC has its own unique RX and TX signal requirements. These requirements must be met at the ASIC interface. Thus, the transceiving circuit that resides between the physical media and the ASIC must satisfy all of these requirements.
Various standardized interfaces have been employed to couple the transceiving circuit to the ASIC. These standardized interfaces include the XAUI interface, the Xenpak interface, the GBIC interface, the XGMII interface, and the 300 Pin MSA interface. Each of these particular standardized interfaces has unique requirements and related shortcomings. Generally, each of these interfaces requires substantial PCB board space and some of these interfaces supports a lesser throughput than is required by many current systems. Further, each of these interfaces is not typically practical for high-speed back plane interface linkage of high-speed circuits.
Thus, there is a need in the art for low cost universal interface that interfaces an ASIC to a high-speed serial media on a printed circuit board.